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AfricanGreys.com

Welcome to the Grey Play Round Table African grey Question and Answer Board. Maggie Wright, author of the Barron's Grey pet manual and creator of the Grey Play Round Table African grey newsletter/magazine, and Lisa Bono, African grey behavior expert, will be the two moderators to answer your questions. Please check out the areas that have already been dealt with... and submit your new questions.

Due to the incredibly high volume of SPAM, the board has been set up so that you cannot submit a question. Instead, please send me your question at merlin@AfricanGreys.com and I will post it for you. Then, both Lisa and I will post responses. Sorry for the inconvenience.

YES! Anything with PTFE is harmful to our parrots, including the Calphalon brand. We have lots of info on this in our Helpful Hints section of this site, under Emergencies. Here is a brief explanation as to what happens:

Did you know that our birds’ respiratory systems are more efficient than ours? A bird’s respiratory system is connected to its skeletal system, and its bones are hollow and lightweight. Therefore, because of this connection, the moment it breathes something, it travels immediately through the entire body through the skeletal system. This means that the tiniest "toxic fume," even a fume that you can’t smell, can overcome your bird in minutes, as it travels throughout the bird’s body immediately through the hollow bones and skeletal system.

Further, due to a bird’s small size, high metabolic rate, low body fat AND efficient respiratory system, it is EXTREMELY sensitive to toxins and particulate irritants, and it can die in minutes when exposed to intoxicating airborne substances. This is why canaries were used to warn coal miners in the early 1900's .....if the canary died, the miners knew to evacuate the mines immediately before being overcome themselves by the fumes.

One of the worst dangers is the non-stick ingredient called polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) which comes under many brand names, such as TEFLON, SUPRA and SILVERTONE, to name a few. When cookware with PTFE (ANY NON-STICK COOKWARE) is heated, it breaks down and emits several types of organic gases and hydroflouric acid: the gases and acid attack the air sacs of the birds almost immediately. Also, after "teflon" or other non-stick surfaces are scratched or tainted in any way, they are susceptible to breakdown of the acid and gases, no matter the temperatures.

As the world becomes more modernized and the push is for more convenience, the grip of "teflon" or PTFE on many different products has escalated. Always check with manufacturers to make sure their products are "teflon free." Be careful and avoid the following types of products that have non-stick coatings:

I use stainless Steel pans and the OLD original brand called Revere Ware. Revere Ware DOES now have teflon coated pans, too, so please be very, very, very careful. If you order them, make sure you get the pans WITHOUT the PTFE coating.